Enantioconvergent Deoxygenative Amination via Xanthate Esters by a Decarboxylative Relay

We report herein a previously unexplored enantioconvergent deoxygenative amination that proceeds by radical activation of alcohol-derived xanthates via a decarboxylative radical relay process.

This transformation is enabled by the merger of acridine photocatalysis, which mediates radical generation, and chiral cobalt(salen) catalysis, which mediates asymmetric radical–polar crossover, producing α-chiral benzylic amines under mild conditions. The method provides efficient access to medicinally relevant amine scaffolds with high enantioselectivity. Mechanistic studies revealed a radical gating manifold in which the cobalt catalyst selectively mediates the C–N coupling with the benzylic radical in preference to a competing decarboxylative amination pathway.